Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand. – George Orwell, “Why I Write,” 1947 (Thanks, Jennifer)

A writer and nothing else: a man alone in a room with the English language, trying to get human feelings right. – John K. Hutchens, New York Herald Tribune, 1961 September 10th